Quick response (QR) codes and other two-dimensional barcodes can be used on various mobile device operating systems. These devices support Uniform Resource Locator (URL) redirection, which allows QR codes to send metadata to existing applications on the device. Many paid or free apps are available with the ability to scan the codes and hard-link to an external URL. These codes consist of black squares arranged in a square grid on a white background, which can be read by an imaging device such as a camera. As such, a user typically has no idea which URL the QR code may redirect to upon scanning the QR code with the camera. This frustrates the process for the user and makes the user less likely to want to use the QR code for URL redirection.
The embodiments described herein solve these problems, both individually and collectively.